Dave is one of the founders of The Pasadena Paranormal Society

Why did you join Pasadena Paranormal?

In March of 2007, I lost my Brother-in-Law, Adam Swick suddenly to Sarcoidosis. His death at the young age of 30 left our family with a deep sense of loss. My wife, in particular was experiencing a horrific, debilitating sadness. She struggled with the belief that Adam’s soul continues to live on. Although my belief that our Lord had welcomed Adam into heaven gave me comfort, I was not able to instill this feeling in my wife.

On July 4th of that year, myself and my niece’s husband Brian ‘Scott’ Duncan began discussing (over quite a few beers) the subject of continuation of the soul and how we could try to prove that fact to others, and PPS was born. On a limited budget and little experience, we began to study the subject ‘ad nauseam’ and envisioned what we thought we wanted the group to be. We were both fans of the growing genre of paranormal shows and almost instinctively knew what we didn’t want the group to be; more so than what we knew what we wanted it to be.

Have you ever had a paranormal experience prior to your involvement with PPS (if yes describe)? – I have unfortunately never had a previous paranormal experience. I tend to be the group’s biggest skeptic and perhaps the lack of paranormal exposure fueled that skepticism. I believe that the spiritual soul continues beyond physical death, but without personal experience, it was only my faith that drove that belief. Now that I have experienced this for myself, there is no longer room for any doubt. I still review each case with an analytical raised eyebrow, but I think that lends quality to the evidence we garner.

What do you hope the group achieves?

I am very proud of where we are as a group for the short amount of time we have been together. I believe our desire to set ourselves apart from the cookie-cutter paranormal groups and aligning ourselves with members who feel the same conviction continues to shape the group. I think both Scott and I have never wanted an “It’s our group, so this is the way it is going to be” attitude. We are only successful as a group due to the diversity of our member’s and their input onto the way we change. We threw out a code of ethics and a beginning structure and through the efforts of everyone involved; PPS has taken on a life of its own.

I think our focus on the client’s needs as being our primary reason for group’s existence is a good one. We have discovered that our individual needs that brought us to this group in the first place are being satisfied as a natural extension of our work with the clients. We are constantly tweaking the way we do things and trial and error have become good friends of ours. We are now developing the area of paranormal investigations that we believe may be the most important service we could provide; helping the clients to cope with their experiences on an ongoing basis. After the investigation is complete and the reveal is done, the clients are left to sort through what they are experiencing and how to cope with that. We need to do a much better job of continuing to support the client on a perpetual basis than we have done in the past. I think we will be a much better group from this realization and effort.

What do you hope to achieve for yourself?

My personal needs have not changed from that July 4th party. My wife continues to struggle and although I don’t know if I can ever use our work with PPS to make a difference in her life, I pray that I can in the lives of others. I consider myself very fortunate to be included as part of this group and there is no doubt in my mind that we will continue to improve who we are and what we can provide to this field and those it affects.

Other biographical information

I am 51 years old, married to the love of my life for 24 years and have a beautiful thirteen year old daughter (God help me).